Tutes
- are one-on-one
- are one hour long
- highly tailored to individual needs
- take account of upcoming assessments
- work closely with the school – topics covered are those from recent classes.
Students bring questions and we work together using a highly engaged approach to finding and resolving sticking points. Tutes are relaxed but are none-the-less intellectually intense. I very closely observe the student’s working-method in order to identify areas for improvement.
Students gain confidence by developing deep understanding and competence in manipulation; from these emphases, students find that memory load is reduced. Topics taught start from the known and advance carefully and surely at a pace which suits the student. This is accompanied by appeals to common sense often via the use of concrete materials.
I make discriminating use of digital learning technology; the free program GeoGebra® is used for some instruction and exploration.
I keep close contact with parents or guardians. This is valuable in helping students to keep focus, not only on maths, but also more generally, say, on reading skills.
—
The following quotations present support for methods used.
Richard Feynman in his Introduction to “The Feynman Lectures on Physics”, 1963, wrote :
I think … that there isn’t any solution to this problem of education other than to realize that the best teaching can be done only when there is a direct individual relationship between a student and a good teacher—a situation in which the student discusses the ideas, thinks about the things, and talks about the things. It’s impossible to learn very much by simply sitting in a lecture, or even by simply doing problems that are assigned.
Consider these words from Norman Doidge, “The Brain that Changes Itself” a 2007, revised 2010, work on neuroplasticity:
“ … [he] discovered that paying close attention is essential to long term plastic change. In numerous experiments he found that lasting changes occurred only when his … paid close attention. When the [tasks were] performed … automatically, without paying attention, they changed their brain maps, but the changes didn’t last.”
Students at Maths Tutoring Albury pay close attention during highly-engaged tutorials, which encourages lasting knowledge and thinking growth.